I still am preparing the next few blog posts, but I know I need to give my readers SOMETHING to nibble on!
As you guys know, my goal is to learn Hebrew. At least to learn how to read biblical Hebrew which will easily cut out a LOT of time spent book-juggling in order to translate a single word! I am, however, learning letters here and there, and since EVERY letter is significant in the Hebrew text, you can learn a lot about just one.
If you didn't know, our alphabet comes from the Hebrew alphabet. Alef-bet! Alphabet! I might elaborate on this further in the future, but for now, I want to introduce you to the 'tav', the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
The TAV:
This is what it looks like in the bible. However, in ANCIENT Hebrew, it looked like this:
Kind of like our 't', huh?
Allow me to elaborate. Original Hebrew wasn't quite a language the way we understand language today. It was a PICTURE language. The Old Testament was literally written with a bunch of little drawings so that the people could understand the meaning. It evolved into the more elaborate biblical Hebrew that is read today.
Now, 'tav' means "to seal, to covenant, a MARK." You could even go so far as to say it's God's signature. When the bible talks about 'signs' and God's covenant with his people, you will surely find a tav in that word.
Now check this out:
This is called the 'Whirlpool Galaxy.' It was discovered in 1774 by Charles Messier. Pretty, huh? These days, we have the technology to photograph the center of that whirlpool. Below is a photo taken by the Hubble telescope.
Pretty awesome? Yeah. Now, many Christians think that this is a sign of hope because they immediately see the cross upon which Jesus died. That's great! But it's even cooler when you discover that this letter existed and had a LOT of meaning beforehand and actually made Yeshua dying on a cross ALL THE MORE significant. A cross, the letter 't', had meaning hundreds of years before the death of Christ. About 500 years before to be more exact.
Many of us believe that the sun exists for light and heat. That is obviously true, but YHWH created the sun and the moon and the stars to be SIGNALS before anything else.
Check out Genesis 1:14
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them SERVE AS SIGNS to mark seasons and days and years."
The Hebrew word for sign is 'Oth' which means 'in the sense of appearing, a SIGNAL.'
When we read that in English, we MISS the true meaning! The number one reason God put the sun in the sky was for SIGNALS. Then for 'SEASONS' which in the Hebrew translation actually means 'appointed times'. NOT fall, winter, spring and summer, but appointments that God made to meet with his people. Like the sabbath and the feasts. Now would be a great time to read my post about the feasts and if you would like to, CLICK HERE. Not only does YHWH promise to meet with us on those days, he also has used them throughout history to signal those following him of what is coming. But that is more for another day! Stay tuned! And ask away if you have any questions!
Love,
Ashley
Awesome...With the Amazing Creator we serve, why would HIS LANGUAGE be anything but AMAZING!!! Thanks for sharing Ashley and as Zeph 3:9 proclaims.... "For then I will turn to the people a PURE LANGUAGE, that they may all call upon the Name of the LORD, to serve Him with one consent!!! Praise Yah for HIS pure language!!!! Blessings,
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When we dig for truth, it's amazing what we can find. His language is full of clues that we often overlook. Take a look at a few verses from Revelations that Yeshua stated and then compare to Isaiah and Genesis...
ReplyDelete(Rev 22:13) I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
(Rev 22:14) Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Since Yeshua was not Greek, instead of the Alpha/Omega , he would have said "Alef/Tav", the first and last letters of the AlefBet. And look at how close this is to the reference in Isaiah:
(Isa 44:6 ) Thus saith YHWH the King of Israel, and his redeemer YHWH of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
(Isa 44:24) Thus saith YHWH, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am YHWH that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
The Redeemer...the Alef Tav will be there in the end just as he was in the beginning when all things were created. Further, he tells us that if we follow his commands, that we will have access to the "tree of Life", just as Adam/Eve had in the beginning in the garden.
The AlefTav is highlighted right in the beginning at Genesis 1:1, but only shown in the Hebrew (not translated in English) Check it out for yourself:
(Gen 1:1 KJV) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
In Hebrew is says that God (Elohim Alef Tav) created the heaven and the earth. The first Alef/Tav is not translated but comes after Elohim, the second Alef/Tav in the sentence has a Vav letter added to it to translate as "And", as in the Heavens "and" the Earth. Interesting in the two occurrences of Alef/Tav in the first sentence of the Scriptures that first time is without a Vav and the second time is with a Vav. Did you know that Vav in ancient Hebrew was the symbol of a "Nail"? So you see when the Alef/Tav appeared again, he had a Nail attached to the "tav" or cross.
Amazing stuff when you get to know the language of our creator.
B6YH
Wow! GOD is all mysterious... getting to know HIM is the most exciting adventure ever!
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